Stoberry Park School

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher and the leadership team provide determined and effective leadership. This has led to significant improvements since the last inspection, particularly in teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Pupils make good progress because teaching is typically good and some is outstanding. Teachers plan challenging work to interest and engage the pupils so they enjoy learning and achieve well.  Teachers provide high quality marking. As a result, pupils have a clear understanding of how to improve their work which speeds their progress.  The school plans a wide range of subjects and learning experiences to challenge the pupils. This makes a positive contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Children make good progress from their starting points in the Early Years Foundation Stage. They benefit from an exciting and well-planned learning environment. This ensures they get off to a good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

start in their education.  Disadvantaged pupils and those who are disabled and have special educational needs achieve as well as, and sometimes better than, other pupils.  Pupils behave well and act safely around the school. They have positive attitudes to learning and show respect to each other and adults at all times.  Governors have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. They hold leaders to account for continued improvement.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The quality of teaching is not yet outstanding. In a few lessons, pupils do not make as much progress as they could.  Occasionally very bright pupils are given work that is too easy for them. They sometimes lose concentration which slows their progress.  Teachers do not always question pupils effectively to extend their thinking and their learning.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 14 lessons, of which one was a joint observation with the headteacher. In addition, inspectors made short visits to 9 lessons. Inspectors observed an assembly and talked with parents and carers at the start and end of the school day.  The inspectors talked with a group of pupils as well as individual pupils during lessons and at playtimes to find out their views about the school. The team completed a scrutiny of pupils’ English and mathematics books to establish the quality of pupils’ work. They heard two groups of pupils read.  Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including the school’s plans for improvement, records of lesson observations, information on pupils’ progress, and work in pupils’ books. They also scrutinised records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.  Inspectors took account of 134 responses to the online Parent View questionnaire, as well as three other

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Information about this inspection

written responses from parents. They checked information on the school’s website, and took into consideration 24 questionnaires completed by staff.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, leaders, staff and the Chair of the Governing Body. In addition, a meeting was held with the National Leader of Education working with the school. A further discussion was held with a representative from the local authority by telephone.  During this inspection, inspectors asked additional questions designed to ascertain the school’s view of the impact and effectiveness of the local authority services to support school improvement for children looked after, on free school meals and the most able pupils. This information will contribute to work being carried out by Ofsted to assess the use, quality and impact of support services.

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Inspection team

Catherine Leahy, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Information about this school

 Stoberry Park School is larger than the average-sized primary school.  Nearly all pupils are of White British heritage.  Pupils are taught in two Reception classes, three mixed Year 1 and Year 2 classes, three mixed Year 3 and Year 4 classes and three mixed Year 5 and Year 6 classes.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs identified as eligible for special educational needs support is above average. The proportion of these pupils who are supported by an additional education, health or care plan is broadly average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is below average. This is additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible to receive free school meals and those in local authority care.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Information about this school

 The school is a member of the Wells Community Partnership. This is a group of 15 local schools who meet to share expertise and training.  There is a breakfast and after-school club and a pre-school on the school site. These are not managed by the governing body.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching to raise the achievement of pupils further by:  making sure all pupils extend their learning in lessons through the effective use of questioning  ensuring that all teachers set work that extends the most able and encourages them to learn exceptionally well.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and senior leaders have taken decisive and effective action to improve Stoberry Park School. The areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection have been tackled successfully. This has resulted in improvements in teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school, recognising both its strengths and weaknesses. Their vision and determination to improve standards and the learning for all pupils are shared by all staff. Staff and parents responding to inspection questionnaires are overwhelmingly positive. Staff are proud to work at Stoberry Park and morale is high; most parents would recommend this school to other families.  Following the previous inspection, leaders identified the urgent need to improve the quality of teaching and achievement. The school swiftly put into place effective training for teachers, for example using the

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The leadership and management are good

expertise available through the Wells Community Learning Partnership. As a result, the quality of teaching has significantly improved. However, there is not yet enough outstanding teaching across the school.  Procedures to manage staff performance have been strengthened. All teachers are accountable for the progress their pupils are making. Leaders set improvement targets for individual teachers and check they have been achieved. As a result, rates of progress for most pupils are improving quickly. This is particularly the case for disadvantaged pupils and those who are disabled or have special educational needs.  Subject leaders are knowledgeable about individual pupils’ progress. They hold termly pupil progress meetings and check standards in their subjects are improving. Work in books and examples of writing displayed in the corridor confirm attainment is rising. The school’s capacity for further improvement is

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The leadership and management are good

strong.  Pupils benefit from a wide range of well-planned and interesting opportunities to develop their literacy and mathematics skills across a wide range of subjects. Pupils enjoy an exciting range of trips and activities which widens their understanding of the world. Assemblies provide pupils with regular opportunities to reflect. This is having a positive impact on pupils’ social, cultural, moral and spiritual development. Pupils are eager community volunteers. They also take part in elections for the school council and eco teams. This is preparing them well for life in modern Britain.  Government sport funding provides specialist specialist coaches to deliver high-quality physical education. Every pupil now has access to physical education each week. This is helping them to learn new skills and increase their understanding of living a healthy lifestyle. Attendance at sporting clubs run by the coach is

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The leadership and management are good

increasing, enabling many pupils to participate in a range of sports each week.  Pupils take on roles of responsibility. Peer mentors, trained by school staff, support pupils during breaktimes and check pupils are behaving well. As a result, pupils say they feel safe and enjoy their playtimes. Inspectors agree with this view.  Disadvantaged pupils achieve well and make good progress. This is because additional government funding is used effectively. For example, extra funding is being used to support pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 in a smaller teaching group. This is helping them achieve as well as their classmates. Leaders and governors ensure there is no discrimination and everyone has an equal chance to enjoy achieving.  All safeguarding policies and procedures meet statutory requirements. The learning environment is safe and calm which enables good behaviour and good learning to flourish.  The local authority school improvement adviser has a good knowledge of the school’s strengths and areas

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The leadership and management are good

for development. Following a detailed review of the school’s performance in May 2014, he checks on continued improvement. The local authority commissioned the National Leader of Education, who has provided strong support. This support has directly impacted on improving provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage and improving the quality of teaching across the school. The governing body has received training in the use of achievement information and data. This enabled the governors to challenge leaders and hold them to account effectively.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is well led and organised. Governors are determined to ensure the school continues to improve.  Governors have received training in understanding data, and up-to-date safeguarding requirements. Minutes of governing body meetings include a wide range of searching questions to enable them to judge the performance of the school. Governors frequently visit the school to deepen their knowledge

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The leadership and management are good

and understanding of its current performance. This enables them to challenge the school further to ensure continued improvement.  Governors have strengthened the process used to hold leaders and staff to account for their performance. They link teachers’ pay and their performance effectively, including that of the headteacher. This helps to secure further improvement.  Governors manage tight financial resources well. They are knowledgeable about how additional funding is being spent and they check carefully that it is making a positive difference to pupils’ progress. They know the achievement of disadvantaged pupils is good. The use of sport funding is discussed to ensure pupils are receiving high quality teaching and are learning a range of new skills.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They show respect to each other and to all adults who work with them. Pupils are friendly and polite; relationships are strong. Many confidently spoke with great pride about their school to inspectors. They enjoy school, feel well cared for and safe.  Playtimes and lunchtimes are happy and sociable occasions. Pupils are carefully supervised and play together sensibly. They say name calling or inappropriate language is unusual. Pupils new to the school are welcomed and included quickly into a friendship group. This is particularly the case for pupils who are disabled or have special educational needs who join the school during the year.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils move safely and sensibly around the school. They know how to keep safe on the internet. A display created in the corridor is a daily reminder to all pupils of the importance of keeping safe when using modern technology. In discussions, pupils know

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

how to use the internet safely.  Pupils of all ages are clear that bullying is rare. They have complete confidence in their teachers that any incident will be dealt with quickly. They understand bullying can take different forms. The school’s focus on teaching moral values is making a positive contribution to the typically good behaviour observed during the inspection. A scrutiny of the school’s records relating to pupils’ behaviour found that incidents are dealt with effectively and are not common.  Leaders have taken firm action to improve attendance. As a result, attendance has risen and is now above the national average. The school rigorously follows up absence and does not authorise holiday requests. Children arrive on time in the morning, smartly dressed in school uniform. Pupils wear the school’s physical education uniform during sports lessons to ensure their safety. This also helps to foster a real

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

sense of pride in the school and its work. The school’s reputation in the wider community is very good.  The school’s consistent approach to managing pupils’ behaviour ensures most pupils demonstrate good attitudes to learning. Parents who responded to Parent View agree with this view. Pupils are eager to learn and accept the challenges set by their teachers. On occasions, the work set does not sufficiently challenge the most-able pupils. As a result, they sometimes lose concentration and do not then make the progress that they should. Consequently, behaviour and safety are not yet outstanding.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The school’s relentless focus on improving the quality of teaching has resulted in teaching that is now typically good, with some examples of outstanding teaching. This is having a direct impact on raising standards and the good progress seen across the school. Most parents agree that this is the case.  Leaders provide strong support for teachers, including those new to the school or the profession. As a result, all teachers have high expectations of pupils’ achievements and behaviour. They receive regular feedback from leaders and the National Leader of Education working with the school to improve their practice. Good teaching is enabling pupils to make good progress in developing their knowledge and skills in a wide range of subjects.  Teachers use their good subject knowledge to plan challenging and engaging lessons. They adapt literacy and mathematics activities well to suit pupils in mixed-aged classes. For example, pupils in a Year 1 and

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The quality of teaching is good

Year 2 class acted out their exciting story created together. This enabled all pupils to write interesting and detailed sentences, using accurate punctuation and descriptive vocabulary.  In the best lessons, teachers check pupils’ understanding and move the learning on. Where questioning is less effective, pupils are not always challenged to think deeply or given the chance to explore and extend their thoughts and ideas. Progress slows at these times. Teaching is therefore not yet outstanding.  The quality of marking and feedback is effective. Pupils read the teachers’ comments and use the time given to them to reflect on, and respond to, these comments. As a result, they understand how to improve their work and learn successfully.  Teaching assistants contribute effectively to pupils’ learning, both in and out of the classroom. They work closely alongside the teachers and understand individual pupils’ needs. The support they give to

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The quality of teaching is good

disadvantaged pupils and those who are disabled or who have special educational needs is mostly of a high quality. This is helping these pupils to achieve well and make good progress.  Homework is set each week. This is having a positive effect on developing literacy and mathematical skills. Pupils say they enjoy researching their class topics at home, such as the Second World War. This increases opportunities for them to learn effectively.

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The achievement of pupils

 Standards of attainment and rates of progress in reading, writing and mathematics have improved since the last inspection and are now good. Leaders rigorously check how well every pupil is doing. They act swiftly to put actions in place to tackle any underachievement. Therefore, all pupils in this school have an equal chance to succeed.  Teachers place a strong emphasis on developing literacy and numeracy skills in Years 1 and 2. This ensures pupils’ basic skills develop well. Pupils quickly learn to use their phonics knowledge of letters and sounds to tackle unknown words. As a result, most pupils reached the standards expected in the Year 1 phonics check in 2014. Standards achieved at the end of Year 2 are just above average. Good teaching and a high level of care and support ensure an increasing proportion reach the higher levels, particularly in reading and mathematics.  Since the previous inspection, pupils’ progress in Years 3 to 6 has significantly improved. Lesson

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The achievement of pupils

observations and work in pupils’ books show that most pupils are making good progress from their starting points. Just under a half of all pupils reached the higher levels in reading and mathematics in the 2014 tests. Outcomes in 2013 were even higher. This means they have made up the lost ground from previous years.  The school’s information shows that most Year 5 pupils are on track to reach the levels expected for their age by the end of Year 6. An increasing proportion is on course to attain the higher levels. The good teaching observed in Years 3 to 6 is enabling pupils to make rapid progress, in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding are making good progress. The school invests carefully and wisely in staffing to ensure these pupils receive the support they need. Consequently, most of these pupils achieve as well as, and sometimes better than, their classmates.

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The achievement of pupils

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs across the school make good progress from their starting points. The school acts decisively to support pupils who are at risk of falling behind. Strong leadership from the deputy headteacher ensures well-tailored and planned literacy and numeracy intervention is effective in speeding their progress. Parents report high levels of satisfaction with the school’s provision.  Good teaching is supporting the most-able pupils to achieve well. However, in a few lessons, teachers do not challenge these pupils sufficiently. Some find the work set too easy and learning time is lost. They do not then make the rapid progress they are capable of.  Standards in reading are high. The school has achieved strong results for this subject over time, particularly at the higher levels. Pupils enjoy reading. They use their knowledge of letters and sounds confidently to tackle unfamiliar words. They develop a love of reading as they move up the school and

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The achievement of pupils

speak enthusiastically about the books they are reading and their favourite authors.

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The early years provision

 Relationships between staff and children are very strong. Parents praise the setting, energy and enthusiasm of the staff. All children have settled quickly and are getting a good start to their education.  The Early Years Foundation Stage is led and managed effectively. The learning environment is well planned and exciting. Children access a wide range of activities. They choose activities which interest them and they cooperate extremely well together. This enables most children to develop their language and communication and social social skills at a fast rate. In 2014, children made good progress from their starting points. They entered Year 1 with above average skills, ready for the next stage in their education.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is failing

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Grade Judgement Description

to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 132227 Local authority Somerset Inspection number 442502

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 308 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jo Brown Headteacher Michael Hawkins Date of previous school inspection 30-31 January 2013 Telephone number 01749 672516 Fax number 01749 670822 Email address office@stoberrypark.somerset.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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